Apple 'to launch tablet computer before Christmas'

It's back, and this time it's credible. The rumour that Apple is working on a tablet computer has been doing the rounds for years, but it's been given new life this morning by a detailed report in the Financial Times suggesting that the device will have a ten-inch touchscreen and will be on sale in a few months' time.

"Apple is … racing to offer a portable, full-featured, tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas shopping season, in what the entertainment industry hopes will be a new revolution," the newspaper reports.

Tablet computers, which let you tuck away the keyboard and use the screen as a primary interface, have repeatedly failed to catch on. Apple, with its ultra-loyal fanbase, touchscreen technology and reputation for making stylish, easy-to-use products, may be the company that can make them work.

The FT's report contradicts a posting on Apple Insider last week, which suggested that the tablet would appear early next year.

Both launch dates have their appeal. An autumn launch would capitalise on the Christmas gadget-buying season. January would let Apple upstage MacWorld (which it's not attending next year) and the Consumer Electronics Show (which it never attends). It would also, as Brian X Chen points out on Wired.com, avoid cannibalising sales from Apple's MacBook range of laptops at the start of the academic year, a busy time for laptop sales.

The commercial imperative to avoid taking sales from other parts of the range means Apple will have to tread carefully as it positions the new device somewhere between the iPod Touch and the low-end MacBooks. It gave itself a little more wiggle room with the last MacBook revamp, which moved all of the metal-bodied laptops into the MacBook Pro range. It now only has one lower-end MacBook, the 13-inch plastic model that starts at £749.

The FT report adds a few more details:

The new touch-sensitive device Apple is working on will have a screen that may be up to 10 inches diagonally.

It will connect to the internet like the iPod Touch – probably without phone capability but with access to Apple’s online stores.

Apple is gambling that it can succeed where everyone else has flopped, including Microsoft, which tirelessly pushed a tablet-ready version of its Windows operating system as a personal favourite of founder Bill Gates.

Edited by Katie Scott

Comments

What´s the point of a 10inch mini laptop? as a proud itouch owner, i see no point in upgrading.

sol

Jul 27th 2009

This should be an excellent tool for nomad photographers who want to visualize/edit their photos with something more convenient than the laptop and bigger than the stamp-sized screen of the iphone/itouch.

As for the remarks about MS failure, it's not because people don't like tablet and touch interface, they are still waiting for a corporation who will do it correctly.

Nobody really had an interest in touch interface for phones until apple proved it could be done and it could be great IF you did it correctly, and not just by slapping a stitched glued up touch API to an unstable and unintuitive OS (I conceed that to the iPhone/iTouch).

I expect many manufacturers to offer cheaper tablet after Apple showed how tablet computer should be done.

Anaconda2Squid

Jul 27th 2009

I am pretty sure such a device is going to be very useful and I really desire it. However I really hope that the price will be affordable, and not another Macbook - MacPro case :\

Birch

Jul 27th 2009

I'm looking forward to a Mac tablet device - as soon as I can afford one! I don't need phone capability - I already have a pretty good phone (an iPhone as it happens - just switched from a BlackBerry). I'm a writer and photographer, so a compact online-ready tablet computer that is more portable for trips than a laptop but usable for image, text editing, writing blogs - and all the fun stuff as well (video, music, games) - will soon be an essential to me. Knowing Apple, I'm sure that it will be priced in the premium bracket, but I hope any data plans aren't! How about a package deal for those already on iPhone tariffs? Just a thought! ;-)

Rob

Jul 29th 2009

Oohh.... I'll take one.

I'd like it to be basically a thin and light version of my old Compaq TC1100 with a bit of 3G connectivity thrown in and kindle levels of content and battery life. Please make it light enough to use as a eReader.

AlexE

Jul 31st 2009

It could be cool. How come no one is mentioning anything about TV? iPhone/Touch = remote control, WimoteTablet = TV/gaming device/Internet device/camerathen maybe a cheapish Apple TV storage device. A deal with YouTube/other??

I've just wondered why Apple has been such a laggard on the TV front, whilst Hulu and Boxee et al sweep in. Have they been watching and learning?